Field of Invention
The present invention relates generally to data communication and devices, and relates more particularly to configuration of a port or ports of a networking device.
Description of the Related Art
As information handling systems (such as switches and routers) evolve, faster speed ports are supported by most networking device vendors. For example, current high-speed ports, such as 40 G/100 G ports, are supported in many switches and routers; however, these devices should be able to support lower speed ports (for example, 10 G ports) for connecting to other devices.
One way to support lower speed downstream ports is to use a break-out cable. A break-out cable extends a single port into multiple lower speed ports. For example, a break-out cable may extend a single 40 G ports into four 10 G ports or extend one 100 G port into twelve, ten, or four 10 G ports (depending upon implementation).
One of the problems with a break-out cable is that the user has to provision the desired port in quad mode (if the port is in 40 G mode) and reload the device to make the cable operational. Conversely, if the user inserts a 40 G cable that cannot be fanned-out, she or he has to configure the port back from quad mode to normal mode.
This method of manual configuration is time consuming and is prone to errors, especially in devices that support a large number of high-speed ports. Also, having to reload the device to update the configuration is also time consuming and results in network downtime.
Furthermore, many network devices do not support a range command or commands that allow for the configuration of multiple ports at once. Thus, each port must be separately configured, which further adds to the potential for configuration errors and for time-consuming network administration.
Accordingly, what is needed are systems and methods that make the configuring of ports into a break-out mode or from a break-out mode back to a normal mode more simple and automatic.